Were my expectations too high? - Page 2

If you really don't like the sound from the Sony/Shure combo, I would really think about selling the Shures and getting a less expensive pair of IEMs. I don't believe going out and spending even more money on an amp/DAC and IC is going to make it all better. You mentioned that you don't want to sell at a loss, but spending even more won't solve the issue for you, in my view. I have an amp and use cheap ICs, but hardly ever use either. My Sony A818 and Sleek SA6s (cheaper than the Shures) have great synergy, no amp needed. I have no experience with the Shures, but I'd say try new IEMs, not buy more stuff and keep what you have.

Listen to the puny newb suggestion

Althought it seems kind of counter-intuitive to do this because you wind up spending even more money, if you're intelligent about it, you do it over a few years spreading out the hurt and maybe even selling older stuff as you upgrade to lessen the blood loss. The final result is that you'll arrive at gear priced and functioning according to your ears, and you can't do better than that.

I know I'm going to get a lot of hate for this, but I really think because of the extreme driver size and soundstage disadvantages of IEMs, some people (myself included) will never be wowed by them. I think a very large amount of what you are paying for is the isolation and size. Have you listened to any other good headphones, ones recommended on here? Or did you just go straight for the SE530 without hearing any others?

Well...that's one way to look at it.

But I look the technology advancements even within the last 10 years. Keeping portability and on-the-go listening in mind and when I look at the type and size of a device that can hold the amount of music it does on a flash drive, and pair it up with some SE530's or Triple Fi's I think the quality of the sound of music being pushed through a tiny sound bore into your head is absolutely astonishing!!

i agree.

there are more than a few times when i listen to great music with the triple.fi's and just have to grin at how ******* good it sounds and then on top of that i can just palm these lil suckers in my hand.

now dont get me wrong, my next goal is a nice pair of high end denons, senns or the such with a good amp, about 6-700 bucks all told down the road, and maybe then ill see where IEM's really fail, but this experience is damn good. and from reading a lot of high praise from a large variety of head-fiers taht also have high end cans as well as the high end IEM's - it seems these lil guys can get pretty high end sound out.

One thing you may not be used to re: sound quality is the big improvement overall. Once you go hi-fi, even portable, it takes a while to realize what makes it truly hi-fi. At first, it just sounds like too much going on in your head, lol. Tendencies when you are starting out are to focus on how much louder or bassier things are, but as you grow to appreciate clarity, focus, detail, resolution, etc. etc. you can really begin to discern differences.

That said, a couple of answers for you:
Interconnects ARE really expensive, because they are aimed at us audio-junkies that feel like a $1000 cable is going to be an X% improvement over our "cheap" $100 ones. Chances are, unless you have an insanely revealing system, you're not going to gain a whole lot of improvement overall, and should be pretty much your last purchase concern for your system, or a "tweak" of your sound...

DAP - digital audio player. Used because "mp3 player" doesn't cover all file formats, and becaue people like acronyms, lol.

Portable amps - not always necessary, but they DO give an improvement overall. You'll find it more or less important, depending on the headphone in question. If they phones have a low impedance, you can get by driving them from the headphone jack. Some do cool things like the HeadRoom Total AirHead and the Meier Corda 2Move - they have crossfeed, which helps with ear fatigue, and gives a wider impression to the soundstage. Amps can also tighten up focus and drive the phones with more authority (better bass and treble response, for example - maybe not "more", but more focused).

EQ - by all means, fiddle with your settings, and see if you like they way they sound. I personally DON'T use the EQ, because with my Etymotics I prefer as neutral a sound as possible, and to me, the EQ can jsut give false impressions, but if your rig sounds to bassy, turn down the lower freqs, or add some treble. If they sound to bright, tinny, whatever, turn down some high end, and give them some bass, etc.

My new IEM's (shure e530 and triple fi 10's) are currently giving my grados and AKG's a run for their money!!
Maybe thats because they isolate and i have a new baby daughter!!
either way what sounds good for you sounds good TO you and you know yourself better than anyone else!!
except maybe your mom lol

One small suggestion. Gather up all the music that you absolutely love and are familiar with that's of reasonably good quality. It'll draw you in faster on all the nuances you might not have noticed before. Ignore your equipment at first and just take it in. Focus on the *music* then take it from there with these other suggestions.

Yup, that's true...just enjoy your faves, and you'll start regularly having "wow, I never noticed that before!" moments all the time. If you get bogged down in expectations, you'll forget to listen to the music that makes you happy, and instead will obsess over the equipment and subsequent loss of cash, ie: "aw man...I spent 5X more on these than my old ones, they should sound 5X better!"...

I can't believe people are discouraging buying the A829 and the Shure's. Really, people say it like the Sony is a Bass Monster.

Only on ClearBass +3 does the Sony even become a basshead player. I doubt that the Shure's are that warm, hell I listen to warm headphones with the Sony and have no issues.

I tend to set the treble to +1 on the A829 for better effect. I have DSEE off as well, because using High bitrate songs you shouldn't need to have it on. Clear Stereo I have on, but I cant really tell any difference in having any of the effects on.

I doubt the Triple Fi's would make the situation much better, if you are dissapointed in something that should sound fantastic, its probably worth getting some cheaper IEMs.

david21 - if you don't mind paying for return postage from the UK to US, I'd be happy to send you my Denon C700 or C551 for you to try out for a couple of weeks. I had the E500 with the Sony A808 and didn't like the combination at all, it was too warm for my tastes. But a friend of mine really liked it, and as his home system is quite warm and bassy, he obviously prefers a warmer sound to me. It's just preference.

I ended being much happier with the C700/Sony combination, and although I'm using the Triple.fi's with the A829 now, I used the other combo for almost a year and was very satisfied with it. Some people find the C700 treble too 'much', whereas it was perfect for me, and so much nicer to my ears than the E500 treble. If you're oversensitive to high frequencies though, then the C551's would probably be a better choice, (with slightly more bass the C700s).
But the C700 bass is nothing to scoff at, and I can't remember reading any complaints about lack of bass at all.

Anyway, if you want to try either one of them out, PM me and I'll sort something out. I have a feeling you might like the combination, especially if the SE530/Sony didn't wow you. I went through a ton of earphones looking for a good match with the Sony, some sounded better than others, but the C700s just hit the sweet spot for me.

And they're a LOT cheaper than the SE530s!!

way generous soozieq

This comparison may be enlightening:


I haven't heard the SE530, but I have heard the SE310. If the sound signature is similar, I would want the shrillest player available to try to at least beat *some* treble out of the things -- the SE310 was seriously dark. If the graphs follow reality, the SE530 has a little more treble (for part of the range -- less higher up), but a lot more bass:

Shures are pretty much like that.